


Undyne's Prejudice

by ArgentDandelion



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Analysis, Bigotry & Prejudice, Canon Temporary Character Death, Character Analysis, Essays, Gen, Human/Monster Society, Meta, Nonfiction, Prejudice Against Humans (Undertale), Undertale Neutral Route
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-27
Updated: 2019-09-11
Packaged: 2020-09-28 04:24:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,864
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20419859
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArgentDandelion/pseuds/ArgentDandelion
Summary: Asserts Undyne has anti-human prejudice, to the degree it's likely to remain by the end of the Pacifist Route. Also explains the societal context for Undyne's prejudice, and why it is so severe and persistent.





	1. Introduction and Societal Context

Undyne’s Prejudice (Part 1)

**1\. Introduction**

In the Lost SOULs battle, the Lost SOULs allude to their worries, unhappiness and insecurities. For example, Sans says the ominous “you’ll never see ‘em again”, while Asgore says “Forgive me for this” and “this is my duty”, referencing his crushing duties as king.

But Undyne’s words are different: “All humans will die!”, “You’re our real enemy.”, and “Mercy is for the weak”. When saved, she says: “Some humans are okay, I guess!”

This is puzzling. Why doesn’t she talk about her insecurities or unhappiness or worries? Why does someone normally so confident make a hedging statement?

* * *

**2\. Societal factors**

First, one should know why Undyne distrusted humans, and the reasons lie in monsters’ history and society.

Long ago, humans and monsters lived in peace. Yet, according to monsters, when humans learned a monster could hypothetically absorb seven human SOULs and gain the power of a god, they attacked monsters out of paranoia. The war survivor Gerson claims the war was more of a massacre; the few monsters that survived were sealed Underground for hundreds (if not thousands) of years.

Furthermore, the prince of monsters was later killed by humans while fulfilling a dying human’s wish, and he didn’t even fight back. The king’s grief turned to rage, and he declared war on humanity.

While devastated by the deaths of Asgore’s children, the war raised the kingdom’s morale. It became _very_ popular: many monsters view the six SOULs Asgore collected so far and barrier’s imminent destruction as a symbol of hope, something to “grit their teeth” and keep living for. It took a long time for seven humans to fall in; it’s possible many monsters lived and died before ever being free.

The war surely created new societal norms and incentives. A book in the Snowdin library even contrasts humans with monsters by claiming monster souls are said to be made of hope, love, and compassion, while humans’ souls “don’t need [love, hope, and compassion] to exist”. This might be old hearsay or propaganda given new appeal by the war, though it could also have been made for the second war itself.

Complicating the matter, monsters aren’t very familiar with real humans: many can’t even recognize Frisk as human. It’s likely most monsters think of humans as just nigh-legendary “bad guys”, given the war, the sealing underground, and Asriel’s death.[1](https://argentdandelion.tumblr.com/#fn:1)

If Frisk doesn’t kill anyone in the Neutral Route, Toriel takes the throne and makes a new policy: any humans that fall down will be treated as friends. However, if Undyne or Papyrus (who both recognized as Frisk as human and wanted to kill/capture them) are killed, Toriel will be deposed or resign peacefully.  
It’s likely monsters hold humans to unfairly high standards out of prejudice, to the point monsters consider humans a threat even if an otherwise nice human kills just once in self-defense. It’s likely this obstacle exists because cutting off empathy for humans makes it easier for monsters to get the freedom they want. Yet, it’s illogical to hate all humans, not just humans responsible for awful things.

* * *

**Part 1** → Part 2 (Upcoming) → Part 3 (Upcoming) → Part 4 (Upcoming)

(Links to be added later; Tumblr apparently filters out posts with links.)

* * *

  1. “Monsters and Humans”, a game two slime kids in Snowdin play, might support this perception, assuming it parallels the outdated Cops and Robbers-esque game “Cowboys and Indians”, where one also plays as historical enemies. To be fair, one of the slime kids is eager to play the game with real humans; depending on how the slime intends to play it, this might actually be a sign of low prejudice. [↩︎](https://argentdandelion.tumblr.com/#fnref:1)


	2. Chapter 2

## 2\. Undyne is Prejudiced

According to this source, prejudice is: “An unjustifiable negative attitude toward an outgroup or members of this outgroup.” Undyne’s anti-human attitude certainly fits. She stereotypes all humans as bad, likely from human actions in the first war and in Asriel’s death. She thus wants revenge on all humans, not just the humans responsible for those crimes. (See “_All _humans will die!”)

At first, Undyne considers Frisk representative of all humans, and fit to take punishment for humans’ crimes. At the dramatic crag, she says: “your continued existence is a crime!” and in an earlier encounter states: "This is your only chance to redeem yourself…give me your soul”, as if a pacifist Frisk really needs redemption.

One could argue Undyne’s unwavering aggression is just pragmatism: she’s doing what’s necessary for monsters’ freedom, something like killing wild pigs to survive on a deserted island. While her first encounter and the bridge sequence support the idea, she’s not so efficient later on: she explains why Frisk’s death is necessary, how their existence is a crime, and even _how to block her attacks_.  
She also acts needlessly _terrifying_. She sets up a scene where an Echo Flower (with her voice) says “behind you” before she appears, and in her battle, she drags a finger across her throat in front of Frisk. (generally understood as “I’ll decapitate/guillotine you”)[1](https://argentdandelion.tumblr.com/post/187474136873/undynes-prejudice-part-2#fn:2)

##  **Double Standard**

Undyne outright uses a double-standard: while she condemns Frisk for being a "wimp” and a “coward”, she doesn’t do the same for monsters such as Papyrus and Asgore. She unfavorably contrasts a pacifist Frisk with humans in Alphys’ “history”, and calls them a coward. She doesn’t believe Frisk is actually good. Instead, she believes they’re a conniving human just biding their time, whose kindness is merely a “goody two-shoes schtick”.

Papyrus is similarly very kind. While Undyne won’t let Papyrus into the Royal Guard because she believes he’s _too_ nice and so will get ripped into tiny smiling shreds, he’s no “wimp”: Undyne admits he’s really tough.

It takes until the end of her hangout for her for her double-standard to collapse. At that point, she tells Frisk: “You’re a wimpy loser with a big heart! Just like him…” (which could apply to either Papyrus or Asgore)

* * *

##  **Undyne is _Very_ Prejudiced**

That Undyne is prejudiced against humans isn’t very remarkable; what’s remarkable is how her prejudice is so severe and persistent. In the words of the book _Mistakes Were Made_: “Most people will put a lot of mental energy into preserving their prejudice rather than having to change it, often by waving away discomfirming evidence as ‘exceptions that prove the rule.’” This absurdity is an example of motivated reasoning.

Certainly, Undyne is committed in her beliefs Frisk is up to no good and cannot be sincere in their kind acts. Facing feelings that conflict with her prejudice for humans, she denies, dismisses, or explains it away, such as assuming her thoughts about being friends with Frisk come from human mind-control.[2](https://argentdandelion.tumblr.com/post/187474136873/undynes-prejudice-part-2#fn:1)

She assumes the worst of Frisk, even if they’ve done nothing wrong. As an example of “waving away discomfirming evidence”, she interprets Frisk saving Monster Kid on the bridge (a clearly heroic act) as Frisk’s desire to “hide behind that kid” (presumably as a living shield). In this interpretation, Frisk is a coward, and she hates cowards.  
Bizarrely, if Frisk runs away, Undyne interprets Monster Kid as Frisk’s friend, but only to criticize Frisk for “abandoning their friend” to run away.

Undyne seems to accept her job is dangerous, even morally distasteful. She has likely had years to accept this, and think of her job as necessary and noble. (in contrast to taking care of them until they die of natural causes)

In claiming Frisk is “standing in the way of everyone’s hopes and dreams”, Undyne is likely referencing the second human-monster war and its purpose. By letting Frisk go just because they act “nice”, Undyne might think she’s denying monsters their long-sought freedom: an unjust choice.

It’s possible that, the more she attacks Frisk, the more she must she must convince herself she hates them, or that their death is otherwise reasonable. She surely wants to hate Frisk: it makes her job easier. Even Monster Kid wants to hate Frisk: after learning Frisk is a human, Monster Kid assumes they have to be enemies and asks Frisk to say something mean so they have an excuse to hate Frisk.

Undyne’s prejudice, motivated reasoning, and cognitive dissonance are so high, kindness alone cannot sway her.  
When Undyne collapses from the heat in Hotland and Frisk revives her with some water, Undyne doesn’t suddenly realize the error of her ways. She gives up chasing Frisk herself not from a lack of will, or because further pursuit is impossible (without armor and with proper hydration, she could go a little farther), but because the way she was defeated was so _humiliating_. She may very well believe Frisk revived her just to make her live with the shame of that method.[3](https://argentdandelion.tumblr.com/post/187474136873/undynes-prejudice-part-2#fn:3)

Later, when Frisk shows up for the hangout and chooses all the friendly dialogue choices, Undyne is more hostile and rejecting than if they had chosen the “incorrect” options. Frisk being so nice clashes with her beliefs, making her hate Frisk even more.

##  **Dehumanization**

The greatest evidence for Undyne being very prejudiced is the Echo Flower “behind you” speech and dramatic crag speech.

In both speeches, she explains her actions to Frisk. One could argue her explanations and asking (or demanding) Frisk give up their SOUL is her trying to get Frisk’s SOUL without killing them, or persuading them to accept death for a noble cause. However, monsters don’t seem to think they can get human souls without the humans dying; Frisk would die no matter what.

It’s more likely Undyne puts on a show of explaining her actions and treating the human as a criminal, rather than an object, due to dehumanization. This means Undyne’s _acknowledgement of Frisk’s personhood_ fuels her desire to kill them, so her dehumanization adds to her prejudice.

Moreover, she tells Frisk to “step forward when you’re ready” to start her fight, and if Frisk fails to block spears in her fight four times, she exasperatedly says: “I thought if I beat you like this…it’d truly show how strong monsters can be.” Her words only make sense if she respects humans, or thinks them similar to monsters. People don’t kill invasive species with arrows rather than machine guns to gain the animals’ respect, after all.

Furthermore, before the hangout, Undyne talks to Frisk but doesn’t seem to care for an actual reply. Weirdly, she doesn’t even ask Frisk’s name by the end of the hangout, or even when Frisk delivers a letter to Alphys. (Though, to be fair, not even Papyrus asks)

* * *

  1. Even if she believes a strict Good and Evil moral binary, why on earth would a honorable hero of her sort unnecessarily terrify enemies? [↩︎](https://argentdandelion.tumblr.com/post/187474136873/undynes-prejudice-part-2#fnref:2)

  2. Of “human mind-control”, she says: “She says “manipulating people to make them like you…what a Grade-A freak!’ Speaking of which, Alphys, who manipulated Frisk to make them like her, would not appreciate being called a “Grade-A FREAK!” [↩︎](https://argentdandelion.tumblr.com/post/187474136873/undynes-prejudice-part-2#fnref:1)

  3. See this post on [Nochocolate](https://nochocolate.tumblr.com/post/162640648022/if-the-human-pours-water-on-undyne-in-hotland) for clarification. [↩︎](https://argentdandelion.tumblr.com/post/187474136873/undynes-prejudice-part-2#fnref:3)


	3. Undyne's Improvement

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cross-posted from Tumblr.

##  **Undyne’s Improvement**

“So,” the reader may be wondering, “Undyne is prejudiced. But surely she’s less prejudiced by the end of the game?” While just the hangout seems to lower her anti-human prejudice, it surely doesn’t remove it completely.

At the beginning, she has a few “cracks” in her persistent, severe prejudice. She has a crush on the human-loving Alphys, and enjoys human “history” (manga and anime). Believing anime is real, she thinks humans are “cool” with their “giant robots and flowery swordswomen”.  
Yet, evidently this is a _theoretical_ admiration; seeing Frisk, she compares them unfavorably to the humans in Alphys’ media, justifying her hatred. Without the hangout, she fares poorly from the loss of her Royal Guard job and wants revenge on even a pacifist Frisk.

While Frisk’s kindness in reviving her doesn’t make her change her mind, Frisk hanging out with her does. She’s initially hostile, no matter the options chosen. However, Papyrus uses a clever bit of psychology. By framing befriending Frisk as a challenge, he sets Undyne’s honor and inability to resist a challenge against her prejudice, tricking her into befriending someone she repeatedly tried to kill.

Bizarrely, if Frisk chooses the “incorrect” options, her desire for (retributive) justice manifests as a desire for revenge. For “the perfect revenge”, she considers making Frisk enamored with her in the process of becoming “besties”. (Despite the fact she didn’t befriend Papyrus out of revenge…)

Yet, whether Undyne’s improvement sticks or whether she improves _more_ depends on the ending.  
In the best Neutral ending, in which Undyne was befriended, the Royal Guard is disbanded. Undyne is no longer captain; in fact, she says she “quit her job” (as compared to the less voluntary-sounding “I have a new job now” or “I lost my job”). She doesn’t seem unhappy about this. She talks happily about her new job assisting Alphys and being a gym teacher for Toriel’s school, and she’s more sympathetic to Frisk about Asgore’s death.[1](https://argentdandelion.tumblr.com/#fn:1)

In a variation of that ending where Frisk killed fewer than ten monsters (with or without befriending Undyne), Undyne fares worse. The royal guard is disbanded, and while Papyrus says he has "no idea what to do with [his] life”, he says Undyne’s “the one that’s got it bad”. She lost her job and her house, and he and Sans take care of her in a “sleepover there’s no escape from”. She works at Sans’ illegal hot dog stand, and hates her job. Undyne blames Frisk for Asgore’s death, and often talks to Papyrus about an unlikely plan to cross the barrier and get revenge on Frisk by beating them up.

If the protagonist killed at least ten monsters after Undyne (Undyne cannot be befriended if monsters are killed first), Undyne hates Frisk even more. She feels hurt, betrayed, and angry at herself for befriending Frisk, when Frisk killed monsters later. Papyrus cannot understate how much Undyne hates Frisk, to the point of warning Frisk never to come back.

Other endings are, of course, even worse for her. In one ending she becomes empress of the Underground, creating a military dictatorship and being determined to kill off humanity.

It’s obvious only a situation where Frisk doesn’t kill anyone and befriends Undyne lowers her anti-human prejudice, though it’s unclear by just how much.

##  **That Improvement is Relative**

While Undyne’s prejudice does lessen over a Family Ending (best Neutral ending) or a Post-Pacifist ending, it’s likely she still has some prejudice.

One should compare her to Toriel, Asgore, and Papyrus. Given Asgore lived and likely ruled through a war that killed off most monsters and sealed the rest underground, one might expect him to be prejudiced against humans. Yet, he raised Chara as he would his own child, as did Toriel. While Undyne is angry at humanity for their crimes, Toriel suffered the same fate, and yet took care of several humans over many years.

Papyrus changes his mind about humans rather quickly compared to Undyne. His plan to gain prestige, power, and popularity by joining the Royal Guard depends on capturing a human. Upon seeing Frisk likes puzzles and pasta, he quickly wants to be their friend. When he notices Frisk’s interest in puzzles and pasta, he wants to be their friend. Though he dismisses the idea to fight, during the fight he changes his mind: he apparently figured out his plan depended on killing Frisk, or only then did his plan stop being an abstraction. Though he knows the benefits of killing humans, he wants Frisk to stay alive so they can be friends.

It’s possible he changed his mind so fast because his self-concept is malleable (that is, fragile: he lies to Undyne about loving grease), or his goals are so broad they can be achieved in different ways. He doesn’t have as much of a stake in the belief “humans are evil and should die”. In fact, he does what he can to prevent Undyne from killing Frisk without outright lying to her.

Undyne’s beliefs don’t change just by seeing Frisk is nice and pacifistic. Even later, her beliefs don’t change as much.

At first, she doesn’t predict Asgore will try to kill Frisk, despite being such a “fluffy pushover”, because of the war’s popularity. She doesn’t question the morality of the war with humanity. In fact, she’s willing to wait until a “mean human” falls down, and kill them instead.  
Even by the end of the hangout, she threatens Frisk: not only can she not figure out that Frisk and Asgore may have good reason to fight, but she also says that if Frisk fights Asgore, she’ll absorb some souls, cross the barrier, and kill Frisk herself.

* * *

  1. If the Neutral Run is started a second time, Flowey won’t kill Asgore after he’s defeated. Instead, he will sacrifice himself in his despair so Frisk can pass through the barrier. Undyne excuses Frisk with “you were just doing what you had to” and “it’s not your fault he [died]”, but it’s unclear whether she meant “go past Asgore to the barrier” or “kill Asgore”. Undyne would surely cut Frisk some moral slack if she learned (through Flowey) that Asgore killed himself so Frisk could go home, rather than Frisk murdering him. [↩︎](https://argentdandelion.tumblr.com/#fnref:1)

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on my [Tumblr](https://argentdandelion.tumblr.com/). Feel free to comment on this article there or here.


End file.
